In an interview set to air Sunday on CBS' 60 Minutes, Jay Leno finally opens up
about his first Tonight Show ouster
in 2009: "I was blindsided," admits the twice-removed NBC host.

In the interview with Steve Kroft, Leno compares himself to a clueless boyfriend when hearing of his initial
NBC breakup. "I was blindsided … [NBC
executives said] 'You're out…' and I went 'OK.' " The jilted Leno never
asked NBC what prompted the decision. "You know, you have a girl [who]
says, 'I don't want to see you anymore.' Why? You know, she doesn't want to see
you anymore, OK?"

Leno was willing to give the
relationship a second
chance when he was brought back several months later to replace Conan
O'Brien. However, he was upset when the media portrayed him as a show-stealing
bully. "I didn't quite understand that, but I never chose to answer any of
those things or make fun of any other people involved," he told Kroft.
"It's not my way."

Jeff Zucker, former NBCUniversal head turned CNN Worldwide president is best known for…
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Also not his way? Keeping silent on his second departure.
Of his upcoming February goodbye, Leno adds, "It's
not my decision."

He then masks his clearly hurt
feelings with praise for Jimmy Fallon, "I think I probably would have stayed if
we didn't have an extremely qualified, young guy ready to jump in. [Jimmy
Fallon] is probably more like a young Johnny [Carson] than
almost anybody since. And he's really good," Leno said. "So you go
with the new guy. Makes perfect sense to me."